Belly of the Beast
by Skye Highwind
Summary: "Welcome to the bottom of my womb. Death and your love will sure bloom ... and at the end of the day, you'll be fading away-" Gruesome character death.


Read while listening to **Outer Science** by Jin!

**Warnings:** Gruesome character death, murder, angst.

* * *

There it is; the signal.

Here are our heroes – a mass of five bright haired characters, each with their own capabilities, abilities … Phantom, a man with mysterious beginnings, and an even more mysterious ability – to change into whatever he sees fit. Mercedes, a girl who somehow attracts anyone's attention, no matter who it is. Aran and Arin, a pair of twins, one immensely strong and physically capable, with the lack of a memory … the other, immortal, trapped within a form fitted to her own. Luminous, the man of the day – a man who had the strange ability to freeze his enemies by making eye contact.

They were made out to be invincible – they had these amazing powers, some not really explained, others painfully obvious. The hope of the entire country was resting on their shoulders, so they faced the door with their heads held high, and shoved them open.

A gust of wind knocked them off their feet.

Phantom managed to catch himself on a railing, flipping back onto his feet. A quick glance around assured him – his allies were okay, only knocked down. He took a deep breath, turning his head to match purple eyes with the figure's red and -

He stopped.

"Phantom?! What the hell are you doing?" Mercedes called out, looking fearfully at the figure approaching the still blond man.

The four left looked at each other, simply because this sort of circumstance seemed far too familiar. And when three sets of eyes landed on Luminous, he shifted uncomfortably. Mostly because he didn't_know_ what was going on, he didn't _know_ who the hooded figure was. He only knew that they shared the same power, and that could only spell trouble for them.

When the rustle of cloth was heard, they whipped their heads to look at Phantom's frozen statue. The cloaked figure – the Black Mage – had his hand risen to point at the blond haired man, and it was with a flick that Phantom shot out, colliding harshly with the ground below the steps. The others let out a shout of surprise, seeing the other man gasp out, coming out of his frozen state.

Phantom let out a groan of pain, shifting from the ground to sit up. But when he looked around, locked eyes with everyone …

The Black Mage was already gone.

He shot up in alarm, glancing around at his allies – his friends. "Where the hell did he go?!" The blond thief exclaimed, gripping the railing and climbing back up to the four. His back was in sharp pain – the landing onto concrete had not been soft at all … His eyes glimmered a bright purple for a moment, but a warning look from Aran stopped him from masquerading his injuries. He let out a breath, glancing towards the open door they entered from.

"There's no one around here to attack, except the…" Arin let out a noise of distress. "Neinhart!"

The four of them watched the long white haired girl sprint out of the doors… They shared a simultaneous look around at each other, before the followed the woman out of the grand hall …

And what they saw alarmed them. The masked man's hood had been blown off to reveal a man with dark hair, and dark eyes, but that wasn't the strange part. His face, although much older, appeared much more similar to Luminous… Phantom glanced over at the white haired man, letting out a light breath …

But the Black Mage paid them no attention. He kept his eyes trained on the group of soldiers in front of him – six in front of a young girl. In the semi-circle, left to right were Irina, Hawkeye, Mikhail, Neinhart, Eckhart and Oz. The former thief's eyes caught a glimmer of movement, and he opened his mouth to shout a warning – but by the time he started it was too late.

The blade had headed towards Neinhart, and the blue haired man recoiled back, expecting the weapon to drive through his chest, but he watched it barely graze his side as he was pulled to the right. A dark gloved hand was tight around his arm, the owner's gold eyes staring carefully around them.

"Watch yourself," the black haired man murmured, letting the tactician go. "We do not know where he will strike." With a gloved hand, Eckhart shoved the weapon away -

And suddenly, there was warmth.

His gold eyes glanced down almost curiously, gazing at the clawed hand that had punctured his chest. It was as if he didn't quite process its existence – and, maybe he didn't. It had happened so sharply that not even Hawkeye could have seen it coming …

Tiny drops of red dripped to the ground, before the claw suddenly ripped out of his body, and he was sent falling to his knees. Grasping at the hole in his body, he gasped, trying not to choke on his own blood, and trying to spare everyone the pain of seeing him die. His figure flickered – his eyes switching from gold to red, back to gold. He was attempting to disappear, despite how futile it was. Everyone around him knew him too well … They'd always know he was there.

Despite that, Hawkeye clutched at Eckhart's arm, trying to keep him from going.

"Listen here, mate!" The tanned man shouted, keeping the dying man sitting up. At this point, the former thief turned Commander rested his head on Hawkeye's shoulder, occasionally moving away to cough out blood onto the ground.

"Haw- … Hawkeye-" the thief wheezed out, trying to warn the man. But his voice was faint, and the man holding him understood him too late. Hawkeye was ripped away from him, and the black haired man watched the cloaked figure wrap their slim hands and fingers around the pirate's throat. He wasn't exactly sure when, but he ended up leaning against Mikhail, and getting blood on his white clothes. He murmured a brief sorry, stumbling over, rambling …

Hawkeye dropped down, his front over Eckhart's legs. It didn't bother him – it's not like he could register the feeling, really. He gazed at the blurry figure of his friend… He rested his head on Mikhail's chest, coughs wracking his frame.

And a gunshot rang, blood spraying out in an attempt to paint the ground beneath them. Eckhart gasped as he was jostled – ending up on the ground on top of Mikhail. The warrior in question … a hole in his head.

Three minutes. Three dead.

Oz gasped, before the blade sliced at her stomach, and she stumbled to the ground somewhere near Mikhail. Her thin and small hands scrambled to cover the wound – to prolong her life, but it was too large, and had hit major arteries … And soon enough, she lay there, haphazardly draped over Hawkeye, attempting to gain control of her death.

Her wide red eyes saw Irina being slammed to the ground, a hand clawing at her throat, red littering the ground around her. She let out a shaky sob, trying to keep her eyes open but not quite able to … And as she felt a weight on top of her, everything stopped.

Two minutes. Two dead.

Neinhart stood, a shaky look on his face, but otherwise fine. He held a protective hand in front of Cygnus, glaring at the cloaked man that had just slaughtered their friends. He could hear suppressed crying behind him, and he took in a deep breath -

And off went his head. His body dropped, and his head ended up rolling next to Mikhail's hand.

Six minutes in all. Six dead.

"Why would you do this?" Cygnus shrieked, hands covering her face and crying. The Black Mage let out low laughter, which soon escalated into a sort of _insane_ cackle.

"Hm? I did nothing, my dear 'Empress,'" he spoke. Despite the hood, it was obvious – he was sneering … "In fact, you are the queen of this tragedy, right? You caused all of this – with your time resets, your begging…" A low cackle began. "And my, I'm only repaying you! After all, you have stopped me from killing them for so long … but now I know – as long as I follow what I did in this one…"

A grin split onto his face as he laughed, throwing his head back and letting the black hood fall from his head. The long black hair tumbled down his back. "With enough resets, maybe she'll finally come back…!"

Cygnus rubbed at the tear tracks on her cheeks, standing up slowly. "That's enough already!" She yelled, her shrill voice carrying over the taller man's cackling. "I want, I want this to end!"

A rush of wind and the haze returns, once again destined to fall into the belly of the beast.


End file.
